Calais man pleads guilty to trespassing on Moosehorn by using spur road

BANGOR, Maine — A man from the Milltown section of Calais pleaded guilty Friday to trespassing on the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge by using a spur road through the federally owned preserve in Washington County without permission.

Philip L. Clark, 60, agreed to pay a $300 fine and donate $1,000 to the Washington County Community College Heavy Equipment Operations Program in lieu of restitution.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret Kravchuk accepted Clark’s plea and imposed the agreed upon sentence for the federal misdemeanor.

Clark faced up to six months in prison and fine of up to $5,000.

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The original complaint, which charged Clark with defacing the refuge by building the road, was dismissed Friday.

Clark did not build the road, his attorney, Terence Harrigan of Bangor, said after the sentencing. The previous owner, Kevin Maxwell, built it with the proper permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to Harrigan.

Clark cleared the road so it could be used again without a permit, and he used it without seeking permission from the refuge, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The road, which was about 700 feet long and 20-30 feet wide, has not been maintained for the past three years and is now overgrown again, Harrigan said Friday.